VCU news

Associate Professor Ted Smith, a treasured member of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Mass Communications faculty since 1987, died recently of a heart attack. He was 58.

Dr. Smith, who also served as the School's director of graduate studies in 1990-92, had been battling cancer for about a year but still maintained a rigorous schedule of teaching and scholarship.

Dr. Smith taught several undergraduate courses, including Communications Law, Public Relations Research, Ethical Problems in Mass Communications, Introduction to Public Relations and Introduction to Mass Communications. At the graduate level, he also taught Research Methods, Media-Government Relations and Media Analysis.

"When people think of Ted, they think of someone who believed passionately in what he taught then shared that passion with his students," said Dr. Judy VanSlyke Turk, director of VCU's School of Mass Communications. "He was a favorite among the students and he really helped the students learn."

Turk said Dr. Smith also was known as a warm and giving colleague who mentored several faculty members successfully, and was a valuable component of the School's decision-making process.

"Many of his colleagues will remember his voice from the corner of the room bringing to a discussion a perspective that no one else would have thought of," said Turk. "We were always lucky to have him chime in on our discussions, because it helped the faculty enrich our decision-making, and his views prodded us to think and expand our perspectives."

Before coming to VCU, Dr. Smith was an assistant professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Rhetoric and Communication Studies at the University of Virginia. He also taught at the Warrnambool Institute of Advanced Education in Australia and at the State University of New York at Albany.

Dr. Smith received his bachelor's degree (with high honors), his master's degree and his Ph.D., all in communication, from Michigan State University. He also served in the U.S. Air Force.

A prolific scholar, Dr. Smith was the author or editor of eight books and more than 100 articles, chapters, research papers and reviews. He also served as an expert commentator for a wide variety of news media in the United States and Great Britain.

Dr. Smith engaged in numerous professional activities. He was an adjunct scholar for the Heritage Foundation, a member of the advisory council for the Virginia Institute for Public Policy, a senior research fellow for the Center for Media and Public Affairs, a member of the advisory board of the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy, a director of the National Association of Scholars and a co-founder of the Statistical Assessment Service.

In 1998, he was general coordinator for the Richard M. Weaver Symposium on the 50th anniversary of the publication of "Ideas Have Consequences."

Dr. Smith is survived by his wife, Rosemary. They had been married 33 years.

Visitation for Dr. Smith will be Thursday, Jan. 8, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Bliley's Funeral Home, 3801 Augusta Ave. The funeral will be Friday at 2 p.m. at St. Alban's Anglican Church, Hermitage Road. Interment will be at Hollywood Cemetery.

Contributions can be made to the Dr. Ted J. Smith III Memorial Fund at the VCU School of Mass Communications, P.O. Box 842034, Richmond, Va., 23284.